Principal Investigator(s):United States Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics

Summary:

This study, commonly known as the Longitudinal Study of
Aging (LSOA), was conducted by the National Center for Health
Statistics (NCHS) in collaboration with the National Institute on
Aging (NIA) and designed to (1) provide mortality rates by
demographic, social, economic, and health characteristics that are not
available from the vital statistics system, (2) measure change in the
functional status and living arrangements of older people, and (3)
provide measures of health care use. It was also ... (more info)

This study, commonly known as the Longitudinal Study of
Aging (LSOA), was conducted by the National Center for Health
Statistics (NCHS) in collaboration with the National Institute on
Aging (NIA) and designed to (1) provide mortality rates by
demographic, social, economic, and health characteristics that are not
available from the vital statistics system, (2) measure change in the
functional status and living arrangements of older people, and (3)
provide measures of health care use. It was also designed to describe
the continuum from functionally independent living in the community
through dependence, possible institutionalization, and finally
death. The LSOA is an extension of the National Health Interview
Survey (NHIS) of 1984, following its sample of 16,148
noninstitutionalized elderly people (55 years and over) living in the
United States, with a special focus on those who were 70 years and
over in 1984. This release of the LSOA contains data on those
respondents who had been 70 years and older at the time of their 1984
interviews. The data include 1986, 1988, and 1990 reinterviews,
National Death Index matches from 1984-1989, and 1987 interviews with
contact persons named by decedents, as well as selected variables from
the 1984 NHIS core questionnaire and its two supplements, Health
Insurance and the Supplement on Aging (SOA). Two Medicare files are
also included: Part 2, Medicare Hospital Records, and Part 3, Other
Medicare Use Records (which covers home health care, hospice, and
outpatient use). Links also are provided to allow merging of
additional variables from the NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY, 1984
(ICPSR 8659).

Study Description

Citation

United States Department of Health and Human Services. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. National Health Interview Survey: Longitudinal Study of Aging, 70 Years and Over, 1984-1990. ICPSR08719-v7. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2007-07-26. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR08719.v7

Methodology

Sample:
The sample for the LSOA was
drawn in stages. First, in 1984, all SOA households with a person aged
80 or over ("oldest old") were selected. Within these households,
all person aged 80 or over and their relatives aged 70-79 were
selected. Second, all other households with a person aged 70-79 were
selected. From these households, all Black persons and their relatives
aged 70-79 were selected. Finally, the remaining households with a
person aged 70-79, whose residents were all either White or other
non-Black persons, were randomly sorted, and one-half of the
households were selected for the sample. If more than one person aged
70-79 resided in a household that was selected, all were included. The
1986 sample was reduced in size, but 1988 and 1990 data collection
expanded to trace all the original respondents 70 years and older.

Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of
disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major
statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to
these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

Created online analysis version with question text.

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release:1988-01-06

Version History:

2011-08-18 Documentation has been updated.

2007-07-26 The setup files have been updated.

2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 4
and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all
downloads.

2006-01-12 All files were removed from dataset 4
and flagged as study-level files, so that they will accompany all
downloads.

1998-01-23 Additional administrative data have been
added to the Medicare files (Parts 2 and 3). The documentation that
matches these NCHS Version 5 data and all other documentation is now
provided as one PDF file. Also, SAS and SPSS data definition
statements for all parts are now available.